Wooded Island and Park No. 566

March 23

Trip Report by Peter Tolzmann

Jackson Park, on the south side of Chicago, is one of the best places for birding in the Chicago area, with over 300 species reported there. We met up at Wooded Island, to start the morning. We quickly noticed some early spring migrants starting to move in, including Swainson’s Thrush, Palm Warbler, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Eastern Phoebe, Yellow Warbler, and many Yellow-rumped Warblers. It was great to see a good number of birds as we walked around Wooded Island. As the morning progressed, we heard that some rare birds were being seen at nearby Park No. 566, just down the shore. The group headed to these birds, which would be great highlights for the day! During our walk through the park, we found a Loggerhead Shrike, a great rare bird for the area, lot’s of Vesper Sparrows, and a group of American-golden Plovers flying over. This field trip was a very successful with lot’s of early spring migrants.